Dharamshala:According to a recently published report by Radio Free Asia(RFA), China has recorded a major jump in the number of cases related to trafficking of Tibetan women and children since 2011.
Office of Tibet in Taiwan researcher, Sonam Dorjee said, "45 out of 72 counties in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) have reported cases of Tibetan women being smuggled into China."
A report published for "internal use only" by Lhasa's Public Security Bureau, titled, "Some Thoughts on Crimes Involving the Kidnapping and Trafficking of Women and Children" included references to cases that were reported from 2008 to 2012.
It stated that nearly 100 women and children were smuggled from Tibet into various Chinese provinces. There have been four cases reported so far this year. However, in 2011, 37 trafficking cases were reported, 12 in 2010 and three in 2009. 2008 had 13 cases reported.
The memo also cited that in 85 of these cases, the people were recovered by police and returned to their homes. 70 traffickers who were operating out of Tibet were arrested during the four year time period.
As per the report, the women were often conned by men they formed intimate relationships with. They were sent to China on the pretext of getting better jobs or to find boyfriends. However, in reality they were smuggled into China to be domestic helpers or 'brides' of elderly Chinese men with handicapped children. Most of the later women ended up in brothels, said Sonam Dorjee.
In other cases, women were drugged before they were taken from their homes and sold.
The victims largely came from rural areas in Tibet and were described, as per the report, as "illiterates" and "school dropouts."
Mr Sonam Dorjee stated that counties and sub-districts in the areas of Lhasa, Shigatse, and Damshung have reported the greatest numbers of women smuggling cases.
He continues to explain how the process started, with Chinese workers initially coming to Shigatseto get married to Tibetan girls. They were then taken back to China against their parents' wishes. These women then lured other naïve Tibetan women from rural areas, tempting them with promises of jobs and a better life.
Once in China the women were often abused and forced into a life of servitude.
In its "Trafficking in Persons Report for 2012," the U.S. State Department said that the Chinese government "does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking."
The report placed China on its Tier 2 Watch List among countries which do not fully comply with minimum standards to protect trafficking victims but are making "significant efforts" to bring themselves into compliance with those standards.
